BYE FELICIA: Microtransactions have been completely removed from Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment today released a free game improvement update for Middle-earth: Shadow of War, featuring a host of new enhancements and content to provide existing players and newcomers with the best gameplay experience.

This robust update brings together a multitude of different elements, including a richer campaign experience, streamlined post-game Epilogue, new player skins and Legendary gear and the removal of the market, in addition to hundreds of other improvements.

The core promise of the Nemesis System is the ability to build relationships with your personal allies and enemies in a dynamic open world.

While purchasing Orcs in the Market is more immediate and provides additional player options, we have come to realize that providing this choice risked undermining the heart of our game, the Nemesis System.

It allows you to miss out on the awesome player stories you would have otherwise created, and it compromises those same stories even if you don’t buy anything.

Simply being aware that they are available for purchase reduces the immersion in the world and takes away from the challenge of building your personal army and your fortresses.

In order to fully restore the core promise of the Nemesis System, we’ll be permanently removing Gold, War Chests and the Market from Shadow of War.

This means the option to purchase Gold with real-world money and the ability to gain Orc Followers from War Chests will be removed. There will be a specific amount of time given for players to utilize their unused Gold.

If players have unused Gold by the end of the time allotted to spend it, any remaining Gold will be converted to in-game items.

Below is a short list of the latest changes:

Removal of the Market: The market and microtransactions have been completely removed from Shadow of War. Orcs recruited through Online Vendettas and Ranked Conquests will now be stored in the Garrison, and in-game Mirian can now be used to train, upgrade and customize your personal Orc army.

Changes to the Shadow Wars: Renamed the Epilogue, the post-campaign has been vastly streamlined to include new narration from Shelob, the Witch-king, and Dark Talion. Victory in the Epilogue rewards players with the Masks of the Nazgûl, unlocks powerful new abilities to raise the dead, curse enemies and summons more powerful monsters. And players also have the option to continue upgrading and defending their fortresses and army in Mordor after the final credits conclude.

More Ways to Customize & Build Your Character: The follower level cap has now been increased to 80 and the enemy Captain level cap has been increased to 85. Plus, players can level up faster with greater XP rewards for Nemesis Missions, defeating Captains and Online Conquests. New Prestige Skills are available and offer incremental upgrades to skills. Players can also spend Mirian to upgrade gear to current levels by completing the upgrade challenge, and these gear upgrades now allow players to re-roll abilities for the perfect combo.

Nemesis Improvements: There are more Legendary Orcs to encounter, more ways to get Training Orders (incl. Legendary Training Orders) and followers can now surprise players with the occasional gift. And if any followers are too keen to help out and have been stealing kills, there is now the option to turn off the Savior feature in the menu.

New Player Skins: Players can now take the fight to Sauron as Celebrimbor, reliving the first War for Mordor, or battle as Dark Eltariel and Baranor.

Middle-earth: Shadow of War

Shadow of War is available for the Xbox One family of consoles, Windows 10 PC through the Windows 10 Store, Steam, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 4 Pro.

Set between the events of The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, Shadow of War is an open-world action RPG that continues the original narrative of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Players will be engrossed in a richer, more personal and expansive world full of epic heroes and villains, iconic locations, original enemy types, more personalities and a new cast of characters with untold stories.